Since I Fell For You
by mandd
Summary: David and Maddie run into each other a year after Blue Moon closes. I  have not watched any episodes past season 3 for many years, so please forgive any inconsistencies.
1. Chapter 1

_Beverly Hills, 1991_

Maddie Hayes opened her menu and glanced at the salads. She didn't really need to read the descriptions; the menu hadn't changed since yesterday. _Chinese chicken, Shrimp Caesar, Cobb_...

She closed her menu and the young waiter was beside her table a moment later.

"Let me guess," he said, closing his eyes and touching his forehead in mock-concentration. "Sparkling water, no fruit, no ice, a Cobb salad, no green onions, dressing on the side with lemons..." He opened his eyes and grinned. "How'd I do?"

Maddie smiled. "Wow. That's it exactly. Either you're very observant, or I'm in a rut..."

"Well, I waited on you on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I sort of noticed that you ordered the same thing yesterday when I brought bread to your table..."

"I am in a rut..." she said flatly.

"No..." the waiter looked worried that he had offended her. "Lots of people order the same thing every day. The cobb is my favorite too... And you... Well, it's hard not to notice you. I mean, you're so... like, you must be a model or something. Or an actress?" The boy was blushing to the roots of his hair and Maddie couldn't help but feel flattered. He was practically young enough to be her son.

"I was a model." _Before you were born..._she thought, and smiled, trying to relieve his discomfort, but it just seemed to make him melt a little more.

He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. Geez, you're probably like, 'dude, just get me my lunch!' So, um..." he cleared his throat. "I'll just go get that sparkling water."

"Thanks." Maddie handed him her menu and he started to walk away. "Actually, I changed my mind...I think I would like to order one more thing..."

"Sure!" he said, turning back to her table eagerly.

"I'll have a glass of Chardonnay...why don't you pick it out for me?"

The waiter looked shocked that she would bestow him with such an honor. "I think I know just the one," he said, and hurried away toward the kitchen.

Wine with lunch? Well, it was Friday and routine, while comforting, sometimes needed a little shaking up.

She pulled out her leather organizer and looked over the next week. She had interviews with two prospective detectives, neither of whom seemed very promising. The problem was that she couldn't offer enough of a salary for anyone really qualified. She was going to have to take her chance on someone young and green.

She shook her head and wondered, as she did almost hourly, why she had decided to reopen the agency. Sometimes she had an answer, sometimes not. Today, she couldn't imagine why she had decided to put herself through all this.

She flipped the pages back and frowned as her eyes fell on the entry for seven o' clock tonight. _Olmstead House Benefit. _She had agreed weeks ago to accompany her friend Hank to this dinner, but now she was regretting it. She wanted nothing more than to go home early and slide into a bubble bath, but she couldn't cancel on Hank, not on such late notice. He was the senior vice president of ABC's drama television department and an old friend. Lately, he was making it increasingly difficult to ignore the fact that he had more than friendship on his mind. Maddie liked Hank. Everybody liked Hank. He was handsome, successful, driven...rich. He even had a good sense of humor.

And yet she didn't want their relationship to go any further.

Suddenly the opening bass line of "My Girl" came through the restaurant speakers and she felt that jolt, that searing shock that ran through her body whenever something happened to remind her of _him_. She slammed her planner shut and looked up gratefully to see the waiter returning with her wine, distracting her temporarily from the ghost of the past that always seemed to hang over her shoulder.

David unlocked the front door with a feeling of dread. Carly's car was parked out front and he was exhausted. She had dragged him out to a club last night, and even though he'd poured her into a cab by midnight, he was still suffering. His agency was tanking and required one hundred and ten percent of his attention and energy right now. And Carly seemed to think all of it should be focused on her. He couldn't go on like this.

"Yo...Carly...Where you at?" he called, his voice echoing weakly off the empty walls.

He listened as he made his way towards the bedroom. Silence. And then, the loud crack of a whip reverberated through the apartment.

He turned the corner to find the twenty-five year old beauty prone on the bed, dressed in a leather corset, black mask and cat ears. "Meow..." she purred. Well, this one was easy. But was he supposed to be Batman or The Joker?

Carly stretched her flawless body across the bed.

He tried to capture his next thought before it could develop fully. But it was too late—unbidden and unwanted, the memory rose of climbing into a different bed, _her_ bed, both of them exhausted after a stake-out. He had looked over at her, soft and beautiful in her blue silk nightgown, pulled her against him and sighed into her hair.

Carly pushed herself onto her hands and knees, long, platinum hair spilling over slender, tanned shoulders, and crawled over to the edge of the bed. "Meow," she purred again, unbuttoning his shirt.

David closed his eyes and tried to surrender to her seduction act. But he just couldn't do it today. One damn image of Maddie lying against him all those years ago still had the power to undo him.

"Hey, Carly, sweetheart, I'm sorry but I'm shattered." He moved his mouth into the shape of a smile but it felt hollow. "You're wearing me out Catwoman," he said and took her hands gently off his shirt.

Carly sat back on the bed with a pout. "But I went to all this trouble just for you," she said, folding her arms. This girl was not accustomed to rejection.

"I just can't right now. I'm beat." He was going to add a flattering remark about how tempting she was, or say something about a raincheck, but the truth of the matter was that he couldn't find the will or the energy to fake it. Honestly, he was too worn out to fake it at all with Carly anymore. Their month long "relationship" was empty and shallow, and while the sex was fantastic athletically, it somehow left him feeling worse thirty seconds after they had untangled from one another. He needed to end this.

But he couldn't do it today. As a supporting actress in a new drama for ABC, Carly was required to go to some network shindig tonight and he'd already agreed to be her escort. He could only imagine the histrionics he would have to endure if he cancelled on her at the last minute. One last date, and then he'd take her out to coffee tomorrow and call off this charade.

When had he stopped enjoying great sex with no strings attached? If he was honest with himself he knew that he had longed for much more than this for a very long time, but like the old song said, 'If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with." He had never expected to be a guy who would turn down meaningless sex. His age must finally be catching up with him. As unpalatable as that idea was, it was easier than facing the truth: empty encounters just couldn't compare to the real thing once you'd had it.

He fell onto his bed for a nap, _a catnap_ he cracked to himself, and wished Carly would just go home. But she crawled in and pressed herself against his back. His last thought was that hard curves and leather could never measure up to the softness of a blue, silk nightgown.


	2. Chapter 2

Maddie forged a smile at Hank as he opened the passenger door for her. She was fighting an irrational resentment towards him for keeping her away from her bathtub.

He slid into the Mercedes, but instead of starting the car, he just gazed at her. "I know it's redundant and after a lifetime of hearing it, it must be meaningless, but I have to say it...you look beautiful."

"Thank you, Hank." She lowered her eyes, modestly. Oh no, not tonight... she hoped Hank wasn't going to try to further things between them tonight. She was exhausted. Bone tired. Thankfully, he stopped the compliments and turned on the stereo.

Mozart was playing, and Maddie found herself closing her eyes as they waited in traffic. It seemed as if only moments had passed before Hank grabbed her hand. "We're almost there," he said.

Maddie felt disoriented, and looked at the clock. She had been sleeping for almost half an hour.

"Oh, I'm so sorry...I guess I drifted off..."

"It's okay," he smiled. "You're tired. You should have told me you needed to catch up on your sleep."

"No, I'm okay. I feel much better, actually," she answered truthfully and pulled down the passenger mirror.

"You're perfect," Hank said, as he turned to watch her studying her reflection.

Maddie realized he was telling the truth. He did think she was perfect.

No wonder he was all wrong for her.

"I need to fix my lipstick," she answered, digging through her bag.

"If you say so," he replied with a shrug.

And he was so damned agreeable! Two strikes.

They pulled up to the valet, and Hank came around the car to take her arm. As they walked into the Beverly Hills Hotel, Maddie tried to calculate the minimum amount of time she would need to stay at this event before she could allow Calgon to take her away...

* * *

><p>"Ooh...they have an open bar!" Carly cried as they entered the room. "What do you want, baby?"<p>

"How about a Belvedere martini, three olives, dirty as hell," David replied. Carly grabbed his face and rained kisses down his neck with all of the subtlety of a vampire. "Oh, don't worry, baby. I'll make sure it's _dirrrty_," she said and with one last nip at his throat, she headed towards the bar.

David rubbed his neck where she'd bit him. He watched her walk, turning the head of every man in the joint as she strutted by. She stopped to blow him a kiss and all eyes turned to see who the lucky guy was. _Yeah, that's right, boys,_ he thought, gloomily._ That's my girl friend..._ Emphasis on the GIRL...not so much on the _friend_.

The band started to play Billy Joel's song, "She's Always A Woman" and suddenly he found himself thinking of Maddie again; a woman, not a girl, and a real friend, the best friend he'd ever had.

God, he hated this damn song.

_She can kill with a smile, she can wound with her eyes_

_And she can ruin your faith with her casual lies._

_And she only reveals what she wants you to see_

_She hides like a child, but she's always a woman to me..._

He shook his head in frustration. Carly had better return with that martini, and fast. Maddie was heavy on his mind today, and there was not enough alcohol in the world to erase her memory. But the least he could do was try and blur away the edges.

* * *

><p>Maddie let Hank steer her towards a table. "I hope you don't regret agreeing to come to this thing," he said as they sat down.<p>

"Of course not. This evening is important."

"It is a big fundraiser."

For a moment Maddie's spirits lifted as she remembered that the proceeds for tickets to this evening would go to the ABC sponsored Olmstead House for battered women. She couldn't think of a better cause.

"Can I get you a drink?" Hank asked. "Champagne, maybe?"

Maddie shook her head. "No, I think I'll stick with Chardonnay."

"I'll make sure it's the best bottle in the house," Hank said, pressing his lips to the back of her hand as he walked away.

_Why can't I find him attractive? _Maddie wondered. Was it something about Hank, or was it something about her.

_Or is it something about David Addison?_

No. Not David. David had nothing to do with this...with any of it. David was the past; a specter who represented her every hope and regret.

Hank reappeared and handed her a drink. Bubbles effervesced against the sides of the glass.

"I thought we deserved champagne tonight, after all," Hank said. Maddie just crooked an eyebrow, and waited as he rose his glass.

"To Maddie: She walks in Beauty, like the night, Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that's best of dark and bright, Meet in her aspect and her eyes.'"

Hank clinked his glass against hers. Maddie took a small sip and wondered how she could miss badly crooned Motown while a man was quoting Lord Byron to her.

_My God, David_...she thought. _What have you done to me?_

* * *

><p>David accepted his martini from Carly. It was perfect, just as he had ordered it. Carly smiled up at him, giving him the full benefit of her starlet-on the rise-grin, and he wished it was enough. So, Carly was a little slow on the uptake. So, they didn't have a helluva lot to talk about. They found other ways to "communicate"...over and over and over again, six ways to Sunday. What more could a guy want?<p>

_Conversation_ a voice in his head answered. _A challenge. A different point of view...a grownup...someone funny, someone classy, someone like Maddie..._

But there was no one like Maddie...she was one of a kind.

Carly grabbed his arm, breaking him out of his reverie, and pointed across the room. "See that guy, the one with the ripped arms...that's my costar! That's Jim!"

But David must have missed where she was pointing, because suddenly he found himself staring across the room at the face he'd just been imagining. He'd thought he'd seen her countless times in the past year, and each time it had been a figment of his imagination, a mirage. It made sense...a man dying from thirst sees an oasis in the desert, a man dying from heartbreak sees..._her._

But this was no mirage. There she was, flesh and blood Maddie, sipping champagne with a Sam look alike, not thirty feet away. The shock of pain and desire started at the tips of his hair and resonated all the way through the bottoms of his feet.

"Aw...baby, don't worry!" Carly purred, misinterpreting his panicked expression. "He's hot, but he doesn't have much going on upstairs...or _downstairs_, if you believe Marcy...she's the costume designer."

He didn't answer, he couldn't take his eyes off Maddie. "Jeez, honey, I didn't know you could be so jealous, but I think I like it! C'mon, let's go dance. We'll give everyone else in the room a reason to be green with envy." Then she grabbed his face and kissed him hard on the mouth and by the time he had pushed her off of him, Maddie had disappeared.


	3. Chapter 3

David pulled away from Carly. The table where he'd seen Maddie, or _thought _he'd seen her, was empty.

And then he heard her laugh; he could hear from the tone of it that it was forced laughter, polite and strained, but it was undeniably Maddie. He felt sucker-punched, as if he'd had the wind knocked out of him. Carly grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the dance floor while he tried to catch his breath.

He scanned the room over Carly's shoulder. No Maddie...Maybe he missed her so much that he had conjured her up; maybe the sight and sound of her had been completely in his imagination. Maybe the woman had finally driven him legitimately and certifiably crazy.

The band stopped butchering Van Morrison and it took just a few beats before David recognized the song they were launching into...

* * *

><p>When Hank had asked her to dance, she'd almost refused. She didn't want to dance, she really just wanted to go home. But she'd had the blues all day, and if she went home early she'd just give in to her thoughts and regrets. She was here and she needed to try, to put some effort into moving forward.<p>

Maddie rested her chin on Hank's shoulder. It felt good; it was nice to be held. She would focus on the positive and ignore the emptiness in the pit of her stomach.

But when the first notes of the new song began, Maddie pulled away as if she'd been burnt.

"_When you just give love, and never get love, you better let love depart..."_

How many years had it been since she and David had danced to this song? _Why _was she still haunted by their past—she had tried so hard for so long to get over him. She had grieved the end of their relationship over and over, until she was sick of thinking about it. But sometimes—times like tonight—the pain felt as fresh as if they had just said goodbye.

"You okay?" Hank asked.

"Fine," she croaked, and grabbed onto him, squeezing her eyes shut.

* * *

><p>David felt his heart wrench as he remembered that first dance. Who knew it would turn out to be so prophetic? "<em>I know it's so, and still I know, I can't get you out of my heart..."<em>

"Dip me!" Carly demanded, somehow sensing that she did not have his attention.

Maddie had been so young and beautiful and totally out of place in that dive bar. Was it possible that she was really here, now, in _this_ room, with _this _song?

He was being ridiculous. Longing for a person did not make them appear. He had seen a woman, a beautiful blonde woman and he had wanted it to be Maddie so badly that he'd thought it was her. But he kept his head up as he lowered Carly towards the floor, straining to look around the room, unable to truly accept that his eyes could have deceived him. He had seen her. He had heard her. He had _felt _her. The air around him had been charged with her energy all day.

"_You made me leave my happy home...you took my love, and now, you've gone. Since I fell for you..."_

David brought Carly up from the dip and she went in for another kiss. He dodged her, turning his head so her lips landed on his cheek and shifted his neck so he could see around her.

And there they were...the eyes that he had unconsciously searched out in every crowd for the past year. In a quick flash, everything except those eyes receded and fell away.

* * *

><p><em>Love brings such misery and pain. I guess I'll never be the same...Since I fell for you.<em>

Maddie opened her eyes and found herself staring into David's from across the room. Her arms fell away from Hank's back. It couldn't be David... Her mind was playing tricks on her-she'd been lost in a moment from the past, reliving the way his arms had felt around her the first time they'd danced together. There was no way could he be here, now, when she had just been thinking of him.

And then she realized it wasn't that much of a coincidence. Because despite her wishes and her best efforts, there was always a part of her that was thinking of David Addison.

_Well it's too bad and it's too sad, but I'm in love with you._

David's dance partner snaked her arms around his neck. Without taking his eyes off Maddie, David pulled the girl's hands off of him and started walking towards her.

_Well, you love me. Then you snub me...But what can I do? I'm still in love with you..._

Hank touched Maddie's shoulder. "Is everything okay?"

"Fine..." she nodded without looking at him. David came to a stop a few feet away from her.

_I guess I'll never see the light..._.

"Maddie..." David said, and his voice was that husky tone that haunted her dreams and sent shivers up her back.

"David," she answered in little more than a whisper.

"What are you doing here?" they said in unison.

"You first," they said together, and smiled.

"Maddie..." he said again, shaking his head, then suddenly his smile faded and he swallowed hard. He looked so serious, so intense. Her heart was pounding through her chest. He grabbed her elbow and she felt his touch sear into her.

_I get these blues most every night..._

David looked over his shoulder and Maddie followed his gaze. His dance partner, who bore a striking resemblance to a life-size Barbie doll, was coming towards them and she looked angry. David slid his hand down Maddie's forearm and grasped her hand in his, then leaned over to whisper in her ear.

"Can we talk outside for a minute?"

She felt his breath on her neck and her knees went weak as she remembered the way it felt when he kissed her there. No one else had ever found that spot. It was as if it existed for David alone.

_Since I fell for you._

Maddie nodded wordlessly and let him lead her out of the room.


	4. Chapter 4

"Where are we going?" Maddie asked once they stepped out into the parking lot.

David looked around, dizzy from the feeling of Maddie's hand in his, but aware that he had to hurry before Carly came after him and created a scene. He had no idea what he was going to say or do, he just knew that he had to be alone with Maddie.

"Over here," he said, leading her towards the limo that ABC had provided for Carly. The driver opened the door and Maddie slid in with a questioning look.

"Here..." David said, digging in his wallet. He produced a fifty and handed it to the driver. "We're not going anywhere. Why don't you take five?"

"Thank you, sir," the man said. "I'll just be waiting over in the..."

David shut the door before they could hear the rest of his sentence.

He looked over at Maddie and found himself speechless now that he had her here. She gave him a shy smile. He wanted to touch her, to push a strand of hair behind her ear and feel the warmth of that smooth, porcelain cheek. But he'd given up that right a long time ago.

"So," he said.

"So..." Her eyes were bright, but guarded.

"It's been a long time."

She nodded. "Almost a year..."

"Over a year."

"A year and two months," she admitted with a small smile.

"And four days," he teased.

"I thought it was five," she tossed back.

"Oh, well, yeah, I wasn't counting today..."

She shook her head. "David...do you realize that we just left our dates back there without a word?"

"Yes," he replied. "And I'm sure this sounds horrible, but I really couldn't care less. Does it bother you?"

She glanced down at her hands folded in her lap, then looked at him with those soulful blue eyes and answered softly. "Not really."

All he wanted to do was lean over and kiss her, to hold her and whisper in her ear all of the things he had been holding in his heart for the past year.

"You look good, Goldilocks," he said, then stopped and shook his head, laughing at himself. "That isn't what I wanted to say..."

"I know," she said. "But you don't look bad yourself."

"Gee, don't lay it on too thick! You'll turn my head!" He bumped her shoulder with his. He was aching to touch her, to run his fingers across her collarbone...

"I guess that'd be doing you a favor, seeing as it's always been screwed on backwards."

"Ouch. I see you've kept your claws sharpened." It was a lame comeback, but it gave him an excuse to pick up her hand and pretend to examine her nails. The contact of her skin against his sent his heart, already racing, into overdrive. He rubbed his thumb across her palm, and heard her take in a sharp breath. He looked back up at her and saw all of longing he felt mirrored in her face. _Now...kiss her now... _"Maddie..." he said, leaning closer.

"Is this yours?" she asked with a sharp flick of her eyes, and it was like a cloud passing over the sun. He remembered this defense tactic. She was scared, stalling.

"This?" he asked, holding up her hand, purposely misunderstanding the question. "I did ask for this hand once before, but as I recall the answer was no..."

She arched a perfect eyebrow at him. "This limousine we're sitting in, David. Whose is it?"

He dropped her hand back into her lap. Was that a look of relief or disappointment? "The ride is Carly's...The girl I just ran away from...Well, not hers, it belongs to ABC. They cart her around in it occasionally for show promotions."

"Ah," Maddie nodded, folding her hands in her lap. "Actress?"

Oh god, he did not want to talk about Carly. "Yeah."

"So...she's your...niece?" she said with that icy stare that could chill him to the bone in a New York minute.

David shifted in his seat. There had to be way to get off this topic. "She's a friend. I mean, I guess you could say we're friends...We're...friendly...but I'm actually... I'm just about to..."

"Right," she answered, shaking her head and pulling herself back from him a little more. "Well, it's nice to know some things never change."

He'd been about to admit that Carly was a fling that he'd already decided was over, but something about her arch tone and cool demeanor triggered his old, knee-jerk reaction, and before he could stop himself, he was firing back. "Yeah, I noticed that myself...your boyfriend there is a dead ringer for the old Space Cowboy. Let me guess: he's a big-wig television exec, lots of power, lots of money, treats you like a princess, looks good on your arm..."

"Looks good on my arm? That's rich from the man dating a teenaged silicone factory!"

A heavy silence filled the limousine as they stared at one another.

Finally Maddie spoke. "So. I guess some things really don't change."

"Guess not," he mumbled, wanting desperately to turn the conversation around but at a loss as to how to do it.

"Well..."

_No, no, no..._ He knew that tone—she was closing off. Why had he let her pick a fight?

"Maybe this was a mistake," she said flatly and raised her eyebrow just a fraction, a mere millimeter of a challenge.

Suddenly, he knew that she wanted him to for fight her, to convince her to stay. He'd learned a thing or two in the past year, by replaying all of the tiny moments between them where they had turned the wrong corner.

"No. This isn't a mistake." He took a deep breath. Was he really going to do this? He'd rehearsed this scene over and over in his mind for the past year, but it was so much scarier now that the moment was actually here. He grabbed her hand and she let him. "The mistake was ever letting you walk away from me in the first place. The mistake was not fighting harder for you, the mistake was..."

"Screwing my married cousin?"

He was taken aback; both by her sharp words and at the pain in her face. Her cool façade had crumbled and she looked so vulnerable and wounded that even though her question cut him to the quick, he couldn't resist touching her any longer. He cupped her face in his hands, forcing her teary eyes to his. "I don't even know how to say I'm sorry...but that...that was the single biggest mistake of my life and I would do anything if I could take it back. I tried to tell myself I was over you—over us—that I was just moving on, but the truth is that I was still...so mad at you, mad at myself, mad at God that you lost the..."

He couldn't say it, and had to choke back his own tears. He let go of her face and grabbed her hands. "I think maybe at the time I did it to hurt you, to drive a nail in the coffin so you could never hurt me again...but I'm sorry Maddie...I'm so sorry..."

A tear rolled down her face and she looked down at their hands. He wanted to kiss that tear off her cheek, wanted to stop talking and just hold her, but he knew these were words he needed to say and that she needed to hear. "There is no excuse for what I did, Maddie. Reasons maybe, that made sense to me at the time, but no excuse. The truth is, I think I wanted to see if I could hurt you, or bring you back, or have any effect at all on you anymore. It was the desperate act of a desperate, defeated man, and it's the regret of my life."

She looked up at him then, and he swore she had never been more beautiful. Tentatively, she put her palm to his face. He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch and it was like soaking up the first rays of sun after a long, cruel winter.

"I'm sorry too for the things I did to push you away...I know there were times, lots of times, that I was awful to you. We've hurt one another so much, and I know I started most of it." She took her hand off his face and the curtain started to come down again as he could see her trying to compose herself. "You're right, this wasn't a mistake...I think we both have wanted, _needed_ this closure..."

For a moment he just stared at her in shock. "Closure? _Closure_ is the last thing that I need or want."

She stared back at him with a bruised expression. "Then what is this about? We just happen to run into one another out of the blue, and suddenly you feel it's time for apologies? If you don't want closure, David, what _do_ you want?"

"Maddie..." He grabbed her firmly by both shoulders. "Maddie," he said again, softer this time, stroking her cheekbone. She offered no resistance, and he leaned forward until his lips were almost touching hers. "What I want, what I _need_ is _you_..."


	5. Chapter 5

David leaned closer and Maddie held her breath. Until this moment she hadn't realized how much she'd needed to hear his apology. And hearing that he still wanted her, that he'd been missing her and thinking of her all of this time, made her feel like a heavy weight had been lifted off her heart and allowed it to float free for the first time in years.

But this was all happening so fast and the doubts were racing through her mind. Why had he taken so long to tell her all of this? What if they hadn't bumped into each other here—how much longer would he have waited? There was so much left to say before they tangled everything up with the physical attraction that was still as strong and udeniable as ever. But as David pulled her closer, the longing to kiss him again crowded out any misgivings and she leaned in towards him and closed her eyes.

"David Addision!" the car door on her side jerked open and she turned and found herself staring into the face of David's Barbie Doll actress. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?" the girl shrieked. "Who is this woman?"

David closed his eyes and cursed, but tightened his grip on her.

"You think you can just ditch me at my own party and drag some other woman into _my_ limo right in front of me? Who the hell do you think you are?"

David shook his head and looked pleadingly into Maddie's eyes. "I know what you're thinking, but please, I'm begging you, don't go..."

"Maddie!" Hank appeared behind Malibu Barbie with a look of genuine concern. "You left so abruptly...are you all right? What's going on?"

"That's what I'd like to know!" David's "_friend_" tossed her hair and glared at Maddie.

She was trapped—blocked between the angry girl standing at the door and David next to her on the seat. "David, I want to get out of this car..."

"No, wait, just hang on a second." He grabbed her hand and when she resisted he held on tighter.

"Carly, I'm sorry—I didn't want to ruin your party, so I was going to tell you tomorrow—This isn't the way I meant to do this, but you and I...I mean, I think it's been obvious to both of us that we're just not working out. You're a great girl, but we just don't, we aren't..."

Carly's eyes narrowed and her face turned red. "You son of a bitch...Get the hell out of my limo."

She took a step back, allowing Maddie to move towards the open door, and she pulled her hand free of David's. She got out of the car, feeling crushed, embarrassed and confused.

Hank put his hands in his pockets. "I'm sorry if I interrupted. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"No,_ I'm_ sorry, Hank. But if it's alright with you, I'd like to go home now..."

"Maddie, no, please..." David scrambled out of the limo and grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around.

She looked into his eyes and he looked so sincere, so full of anguish that she almost caved. But her head was spinning and she felt totally out of control. "David, I can't do this right now. Clearly you have some unfinished business...And this is all too fast, I need some time to clear my head."

"Time! It's been over a year, Maddie! There's been nothing but time!" He stepped towards her and gripped her elbow, pulling her against him. "There's been too much time wasted," he whispered into her ear, using his thumb to wipe a tear off her cheek then wrapped his fingers lightly around the back of her neck. "Time spent hopelessly trying to get over you, and missing you and thinking of you, and wanting you so badly that it hurts."

She took a deep breath, trying to focus on her thoughts and not the chills running down her spine from the feeling of his fingers pressing against her neck. How long had she wished to hear these words from him? But not like this, not in a parking lot after some chance meeting, with her date and his freshly dumped ex-girlfriend listening to every word. "If that's true..."

"_If _that's true? Maddie, that's the truest thing in my life, I swear..."

She felt the tears coming in earnest now, and she that knew Carly and Hank were staring at them, but in that moment she didn't care. She grabbed his wrists and held them between them. She couldn't think straight when he was touching her like that. "_If_ that's true, then why haven't you called me? If you missed me so much, then why did you wait until we had an accidental run in to tell me?"

"Maddie," he said, looking dejected. "I picked up the phone and hung up a hundred times. I didn't think you'd want to hear what I had to say. I'd lost all hope until I saw you..."

She let go of his wrists, and missed the contact between them as soon as she released him. "I can't do this right now. This isn't the right time for this..." She wiped her eyes and turned to Hank. "I'm so sorry. Do you think you could take me home?"

* * *

><p>The wait for a cab seemed like an eternity. David had called out for Maddie as she walked away from him with the Sam Twin, but she hadn't even turned her head.<p>

He'd come too far now to let her shut him down—there was no way he was giving up. He could tell that she still wanted him as much as he wanted her. And for the first time in a long time, he dared to hope that _maybe_ she still loved him too.

That was the one thing he hadn't had a chance to tell her, although he felt it had been in everything he'd said and all of his actions, he hadn't yet said the words _I love you_—and he knew how important those words were to Maddie. He'd been working up to it, before Carly had interrupted them. Looking back, choosing Carly's limo for a private conversation with Maddie had been extremely ill-advised.

The cab finally pulled up and he gave the driver Maddie's address. He knew there was a time to lay off with Maddie and a time to push, and every fiber of his being was telling him that now was the moment to forge ahead. He'd meant what he'd said; enough time had been wasted. He was miserable without her, and if he'd read her right tonight, she wasn't much better off without him.


End file.
